The Marshalls
by Kit
Chapter 6
Will arrived at the party a few minutes later than expected, and after he'd greeted everyone, John and Liam gave him a tour of the house and garden. Then John took his brother aside briefly for a private chat.
"Did you know that Paul's adopted his brothers?" John asked. "That's why they could move out of the foster home and live with him."
"No, I didn't know that," Will replied, having never even considered such a possibility.
"Well, maybe you could adopt me," the younger brother suggested hopefully.
"I thought Liam and Connor were with Sarah and David for a long time before they came here. Anyway, I suspect it's a lot more complicated than it sounds, so don't get your hopes up."
"But you'll see if you can do it, won't you?" John pleaded. "Maybe you could ask Rose."
"Yes, I'll talk to Rose," his big brother promised, but remembering what she'd said when she'd visited his flat, he didn't think it would do any good.
Paul's godparents arrived about half an hour later, having first gone home to change clothes and collect the large birthday cake. Will was a little nervous about meeting the woman he knew as Mrs Walker for the first time in a social setting. The accountancy firm was large, so he usually saw her only at a distance, and the only time he'd spoken with her had been when he was being interviewed for his job.
He'd never even seen her husband before, so Will felt awkward when Paul introduced him and John to his godparents. Mr and Mrs Walker were both in their mid fifties, but they were very different in physical appearance. The woman was short, with grey-streaked auburn hair and green eyes. Her husband was tall, slim and looked very distinguished with his full head of grey hair.
They were both very friendly and affable, and Mrs Walker recognised Will immediately. It soon became clear that Will and John were the only ones addressing them formally as Mr and Mrs Walker. The other adults addressed them as Geoffrey and Anne, with all the other children, even Mike, calling them Uncle Geoffrey and Aunt Anne. That difference felt awkward for everyone, and Anne provided the solution.
"As we're all here as Paul's friends, and as this is an informal occasion," she said to Will, "please address us as Anne and Geoffrey. Of course, at the office, it would be better to remain more formal."
After that, everyone felt more relaxed, and the party began. Later in the evening, Will complimented Anne on the delicious cake and commented that it was amazing that she found time for baking when her job was so demanding. He also remarked on how a series of unlikely coincidences had brought them together at the same birthday party.
"I mean, I only met Paul because my brother just happened to be in the same foster home that Liam and Connor had been in," he explained, "and he just happens to be your godson, and I just happen to work in the same firm."
"Yes," she agreed, "but maybe it's part of God's plan."
Will, who wasn't at all religious, was a little surprised by that and quickly pointed out that another coincidence was the fact that Paul's surname, Cooper, was also part of their firm's name before it was rebranded to MCS.
"Oh, that's not a coincidence," she replied, smiling. "His great-great-grandfather was one of the founding partners."
Apart from a bottle of champagne, mostly drunk by Paul and Geoffrey, there was very little alcohol consumed during the course of the evening. By eight o'clock, Susie was beginning to become tired and cranky, so David and Sarah decided to take her home. That meant John and Mike also had to leave with them, and the redhead complained bitterly.
Before they left, they discussed details of Mike's birthday party, which would be on the following Monday. Paul offered to make a cake and provide other foods, including the redhead's favourite strawberry trifle. Stephane apologised to Mike, telling him that he'd not be able to attend because he was going to be visiting his family and meeting his new niece. He also said that he'd already bought Mike's present and that Paul would give it to him at the party.
"You all seem to make a big deal of birthdays," Will commented to Sarah. "Apart from a card and a small present, it's never been much of an occasion for John and me."
"We like to make birthdays and holidays, such as Christmas, special for our children, but we don't make a fuss of our own birthdays," she replied. "Unfortunately, because of our vacation, we won't be here for John's birthday, but I promise we'll give him a proper party when we get back."
"Or we could give him a birthday party here," Paul suggested. "After all, he'll already be staying with Will, and Mike will be here while you're away."
"And we can have another party for him when you get back," Mike suggested, grinning cheekily.
"We'll have to see about that," an amused David said.
The next day, while taking an early lunch break, Will called Rose and told her that John had discovered that Paul had adopted his brothers. He added that John wanted to know if he could be adopted by Will.
"But I don't suppose I have all the advantages that Paul has," he concluded. "I'm certainly not rich."
"You must know that I can't discuss individual cases," Rose replied in a slightly scolding tone, "but although an adopter needs to be able to provide for the basic material needs of a child, they certainly don't need to be rich. Having a reliable support network is at least as important as money. Paul didn't receive any special treatment, and he had to go through all the standard procedures."
"Maybe I could go through those standard procedures," Will suggested.
"Well, of course there's nothing stopping you, but the process takes at least a year, and as we discussed before, the situation with you and John is reassessed regularly. So if the situation changes in the next few months, John could be allowed to live with you anyway. Also, in three years he'll be eighteen and no longer in the care system. Then he can live wherever he wants."
"Oh, so no matter what happens," he said sadly, "John will be in care for several months."
"I know that you want what's best for your brother, just as we all do," Rose pointed out patiently. "You've seen where John's living and who he's living with. Can you honestly say that, taking everything into consideration, he's not better off there than living with you as things are now?"
"No, I guess not," he admitted. "But could you do me a favour? Could you tell John that I talked to you about adopting him and that I really wanted to do it? I don't want him to think that I'm rejecting him."
"Yes, I'll do that. In fact, I'd already planned on visiting the foster home tomorrow to check up on him, so I can mention it to him then."
Despite what Rose had said, Will couldn't help feeling that it would be easier for him to adopt John if he were as financially well-off as Paul. Although Liam had told him that his family wasn't rich, Will believed that his own observations indicated otherwise. It occurred to him that because of Paul's connections to MCS, his finances might be handled by the firm. Therefore, just before he finished work on the day he'd spoken to Rose about adoption, Will succumbed to temptation.
He realised that it might be an ethically grey area, but decided that as he was an employee of the firm, it wouldn't break any rules if he tried to find an account for Paul on the firm's computer system. He convinced himself that there would be no ethical breach as long as he never passed information to anyone else. Thus, after some internal debate, he decided that satisfying his curiosity would be acceptable.
He quickly found that Paul was listed as a client, but he didn't have access to any other information apart from which members of the firm dealt with him. Anne Walker was, of course, one of them, and the two others were colleagues who managed their own departments. One was in charge of trusts and investments, and the other was in charge of tax planning.
Bearing in mind the seniority of the accountants involved, he deduced that the annual fees paid by Paul would probably be considerable. In fact, from his knowledge of the firm's billing rates, Will guessed that the fees would be much greater than his salary. He concluded that the assets that the firm handled for Paul must be quite large.
That weekend, John got permission to have an overnight stay with his brother, and Will picked him up on Saturday afternoon. He promised to return John in time for Sunday lunch, to which Will was invited.
"Do you still have copies of the playlists you made for me?" John asked.
"Yes, they're on my laptop, but without a phone, how can you listen to them?"
"Well, it's Mike's birthday on Monday, and I thought I could put some songs onto a flash drive as a present for him."
"And I suppose you'll want me to give you the flash drive as well," Will asked with an indulgent smile.
"Yes, please," his brother replied, feeling a little embarrassed.
Later, while John was selecting tracks for the playlist, his brother approached him a little tentatively.
"I know how careful you were to keep your phone away from Dad, especially after he made it clear that he wasn't happy when I gave it to you," he said, "so I was just wondering how he got to see what was on it."
John looked up from the laptop and frowned.
"Look," Will reassured him, "I don't care what, erm, stuff was on it. I was just curious how he got to see it. How did he get hold of the phone, and how did he know the unlock code?"
"Well, I guess I just got careless," the embarrassed boy admitted. "When Dad was at the pub, I watched TV, and then I got bored and started playing on my phone. Dad came home early, like more than an hour earlier than usual, while I was having a pee. I'd left the phone on the sofa, and he found it."
"But how did he get the security code? Did he force you to tell him what it was?"
"He didn't need to," the boy replied, clearly even more embarrassed than before, "because I'd not locked it and hadn't been away long enough for the auto lock."
"Okay, thanks for telling me," Will said after taking a few seconds to absorb his brother's words. "Like I said, I don't care what was on the phone, but whatever it was, it was no excuse for him hurting you."
"Actually," John said after a brief pause, "it was almost worth it. Now at least I don't have to live with him anymore. I'd rather live with you, but it's okay with David and Sarah, and anything's better than being with Dad."
Stephane and Will were unable to attend Mike's birthday party at the foster home because the former was still visiting his family and the latter was working. Connor made the birthday cake, which Liam helped to decorate, and Paul made a trifle. The plentiful savoury foods were provided by David and Sarah.
The redhead was rapidly growing out of his running shoes, so the foster carers bought him a new pair, and Stephane had left a new running kit for him. To replace Mike's dumb phone, Paul gave him a smartphone on which David had already set up parental controls. The birthday boy was pleasantly surprised when John gave him the flash drive containing the playlist.
"It must have taken ages for you to put together so many songs," Mike said to John when they were getting ready for bed that night.
"Well, I just hope you like at least some of them," the older boy replied. "They're most of my favourites."
Mike frowned in thought for a couple seconds before responding, "I know it's not your birthday yet, but if you want I could give you my old phone as an early present."
"Really? That would be great!" John said. "Then I wouldn't need to borrow one from David when I want to call Will. Thanks!"
"Okay, I'll give it to you tomorrow after I've deleted stuff," Mike said. With a very serious expression, he added, "But don't take it personally."
Immediately after saying that, he turned away, went into the bathroom, and locked the door, leaving John confused. The early birthday gift of his old phone was a very generous and thoughtful gesture, and John wondered how it couldn't be taken personally. Even more puzzling was the fact that Mike had seemed concerned about how John might interpret the gift.
The following morning, Paul and his brothers arrived to collect Mike before setting off on their camping trip. Immediately before getting into the car, the redhead discreetly handed over his old phone to John, leaving no time for the older boy to show his gratitude. However, David had noticed what had happened and raised a questioning eyebrow. When John explained the gift, the man was pleased and pointed out that he had the instruction manual if John wanted to borrow it.
During the four days and three nights that Mike was away, the house seemed very quiet to John. Although he could now contact his brother more easily, and Will came round to see him on a couple of evenings, the boy felt a little lonely. In fact, there were even times when he wished that school wasn't closed for the summer break.
The weather was fine, so John spent much of the daytime outdoors, either in the garden with Susie or riding his bike around the local area. On the second day of Mike's absence, John decided to try doing some running in the nearby park. He put on his trainers, and now that the bruises had almost completely disappeared, he no longer felt self-conscious wearing shorts and T-shirt.
Before starting his run, he tried to remember and copy the warm-up exercises that he'd seen Mike doing, but he realised that he'd need to ask for a refresher course. He also tried to copy the redhead's route and number of laps, but he quickly discovered that he didn't have Mike's stamina. Despite that, he found that he was beginning to understand why the younger boy enjoyed it so much.
When Paul brought Mike back, it was late afternoon, but the brothers didn't stay long because Stephane was due to return home later that evening. The redhead raved about how much he'd enjoyed the camping trip and how he wanted to repeat the experience as soon as possible. Connor shared his enthusiasm, and the two boys regaled the foster carers with tales of their adventures, while Paul looked on with an indulgent smile.
John noticed that although Liam appeared to be reasonably happy, he didn't say much and stayed near the periphery of the group. When Mike and Connor went to get some bags from the car and the adults went into the kitchen, John approached Liam and leaned down to speak quietly to the small boy.
"Did you have fun, too?" he asked.
"Yes, it was great," Liam replied with only a little enthusiasm.
"But?" John prompted, sensing that the smaller boy had reservations.
Liam frowned and looked at John with narrowed eyes for a couple of seconds before responding.
"Connor and Mike spent a lot of time together."
"And did you feel left out?" John asked sympathetically.
"No!" the smaller boy protested. Then he admitted quietly, "Well, maybe a little bit at night times. I got bored of their big boy stuff, and it was nicer in Paul's tent."
"Well, his tent's bigger and newer."
"And not so smelly!" Liam said and giggled. "On a couple of days, when I went to make sure they were awake for breakfast, there was a funny smell in their tent."
"Probably a night's worth of farts. Had they been eating lots of beans?" John joked.
"It wasn't farts," the little boy said decisively, as if he were an expert in such things. He frowned in thought for a couple of seconds, then added, "It was a bit like bleach."
At first, John was puzzled by that, but it didn't take long for him to guess what might have been the source of that smell.
After the brothers had gone home, Mike immediately went to unpack his things and have a shower. Then it was time for their evening meal, so there wasn't time for John to have a private chat with him. While they ate, the redhead didn't offer up new details of the trip, but he responded in reasonable detail to questions from Sarah and David. John found it very entertaining, though he also felt a twinge of jealousy, especially when he thought about Mike and Connor sharing a tent.
John had been hoping to spend some time playing together on the computer or just chatting with Mike that evening. However, the redhead announced that he was tired and was going to bed early, leaving John feeling a little disappointed. He, too, decided to have a relatively early night, and he was just going to brush his teeth when Mike stepped out of the bathroom.
They almost collided, and both boys were startled. Mike mumbled something that sounded like 'Stupid New Kid'. At another time, John might have uttered an automatic apology, but he was rendered speechless by the sight of the other boy's body, which was almost naked. The white skin, slightly marbled by faint blue veins, was covered only by a pair of shorts.
"You're in my way," Mike complained.
"Oh, sorry," John replied, stepping aside to let the other boy pass.
"And why're you staring at me like that?" the smaller boy asked.
Considering that admitting that he was admiring the other boy's body wouldn't be a good idea, John desperately tried to think of an excuse. Embarrassed, he said the first thing that came into his head.
"I, erm, well, I missed you," he stuttered.
That startled Mike even more than the near-collision in the bathroom doorway, and he studied John's face, frowning as he tried to work out if the bigger boy was trying to be funny.
"I've only been away for a few days," he said, still trying to work out if he was being teased.
"Yeah, but it's boring when there's no school and you're not here," John admitted, immediately regretting his words.
"That's weird," the redhead said, not unkindly. As far as he could remember, no one had ever told him that they'd missed him.
"Well, I, erm, well, I went running in the park and couldn't remember the warm-up routine. So, I wished you were there to remind me," John responded lamely, feeling that he should justify himself.
The redhead, still a little confused, rolled his eyes and went to his room without saying another word.
At around mid-morning on the next day, Mike announced that he was going for a run in the park, and then he looked questioningly at John.
"Do you want to come?"
John was surprised by the question, which sounded almost like a challenge, but he quickly accepted the invitation. As the boys made their way to the park in their running clothes, Mike commented that the bruises on John's face, arms, and legs had almost disappeared. With a hint of envy, he added that was one of the advantages of having such golden skin.
"Have you done any serious running before?" Mike asked when they reached the park.
"Anyone can run," John replied, prompting the other boy to look upward and roll his eyes.
"Trainers are okay," the redhead said, looking down at the other boy's feet, "but if you want to be serious about it, you should get proper shoes."
Mike began his warm-up exercises, and John tried his best to copy them. He was a little embarrassed by performing these exercises in public, but he wanted to win Mike's approval. The redhead gave instructions on what exactly he was doing and why he was doing it. Although outwardly expressing disdain at John's efforts, he was secretly impressed that the other boy was apparently taking things seriously. Also, his ego was boosted by the fact that he was taking on the role of instructor.
"I'm not going to go slow just so that you can keep up," Mike said, "and don't start moaning if your trainers make your feet hurt."
Although he felt a little insulted by Mike's tone, John remembered what Connor had said about being nice even when Mike wasn't. So he suppressed his annoyance as the redhead set off at a brisk pace. He stayed a couple of metres behind the other boy, partly to study Mike's technique but also to enjoy the view of his supple body and lithe legs.
Initially, John had no problem keeping up with Mike, but even before one lap of the route had been completed, he began to fall behind. It became clear that the redhead had much greater stamina, and he appeared to be continuing with little effort when John was breathless and struggling. After the first lap, John found a convenient bench and sat down to watch the other boy complete another three laps.
After lunch, Mike spent almost an hour in his room, having a video chat with Connor. When he came downstairs, he surprised John by asking if he wanted to play a video game.
At the same time as Mike and John were running in the park, Stephane was demonstrating some guitar chords to Liam. While they were occupied, Paul took the opportunity to have a private chat with Connor in the kitchen.
"When I first met you and Liam," he began, "you were both very close and spent lots of time together, and you were a very protective big brother."
"Yeah," the boy agreed proudly.
"But recently, especially on this camping trip, you two seem to be drifting apart, and you've been spending more time with Mike than with your brother."
"We're not!" Connor protested, then continued more quietly, "We're not drifting, and Liam knows he can be with me and Mike."
"That's sort of what I meant," Paul replied gently. "You were spending most of your time with Mike. If Liam joined you, it was as an add-on but not really taking part."
"Well, he could've if he'd wanted," the boy said a little grumpily.
Paul sighed and then continued, "I'm not sure that Liam understood that. My impression is that he felt that he wasn't part of a group of three but just being allowed to tag along with a couple of big boys."
"That's not true," Connor replied with an irritable and sulky expression.
"Well, maybe I'm wrong," Paul admitted, "but Liam seemed to be unhappy about something. Anyway, it might be a good idea to have a little private chat with him and see how he really feels."
On one of the weekends that Mike stayed at Paul's house, the two of them had planned to go running on the Saturday morning, but that was cancelled because of heavy rain and blustery winds. Connor suggested that they play one of the console games, but the redhead, who'd anticipated burning off pent-up energy by exercising, was too restless to sit in front of a screen. Instead, he wandered around the house, observing what the other occupants were doing.
While he was upstairs, the door to the attic stairs caught his attention. Of course, he'd seen it many times before and had been told where it led, but he'd never given it any thought. Now, with his desire to do something physical, the door represented the possibility for a little adventure. He went back downstairs to speak with Connor.
"Have you still not explored the attic?" he asked.
"No. Paul said it's just full of dust and junk, and I've always had other things I'd rather do. Anyway, the door's locked, and I don't know where the key is."
Mike immediately went to find Paul and asked if he and Connor could look around in the attic, and if so, could they have the key. The young man wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the idea but couldn't think of a strong reason to deny the request outright.
"It's very dusty up there, so if you're allergic to things like that, you shouldn't go up there. And even if you're not allergic, your clothes will get dirty."
"If we'd gone running, I would've had a shower and changed clothes anyway," Mike pointed out.
"I'm not sure where the key is," Paul said, "but I think it may be in the office desk."
The three of them went into the parlour, where Paul took out a wooden box from the bottom drawer of the desk. Inside were several keys in a wide variety of types and sizes. Taking the box upstairs, Paul found the correct key and unlocked the door. He wondered if the boys should be supervised, but he didn't want to risk triggering his own allergies, and Stephane was occupied with Liam in the conservatory.
"Take care up there," he said.
"Take care of what?" Connor asked.
"Anything you might break or that might hurt you with sharp or pointed edges," Paul replied, prompting his brother to sigh and roll his eyes.
The stairs led up to a large wood-floored space under the roof of the house. It appeared that at one time the space had been partitioned off into smaller areas, but the partitions had since been taken down. The roof was supported by large, varnished oak rafters, between which there was thick insulation. Only about a third of the central area was high enough to allow an adult to stand upright.
Light came in through four small windows set into the sloped roof. At the top of the stairs, there was also a switch that turned on two bare bulbs hanging from the ridge beam. The attic was indeed very dusty, and there were many spiderwebs, but apart from sneezing a little, neither boy was affected, and neither of them was afraid of spiders.
About half of the floor space, mostly around the edges, was taken up by what Paul had referred to as 'junk'. Apart from cardboard boxes of various sizes, there were two large tea-chests and an assortment of small pieces of old furniture. Some of the older items, such as the antique sewing machine, particularly attracted the boys' attention.
They found three dark grey leather suitcases tucked under the eaves near the bannister at the top of the stairs. They appeared to be part of a set, with one large, one medium-sized, and one small. It was obvious from the weight that they were not empty, so of course, they immediately tried to open them. The fact that all three were locked made the boys even more curious about the contents, so they went to ask Paul if he had the keys.
As soon as the boys approach him in the parlour, Paul's nose began to tickle and his eyes began to itch. The rapid start of his allergic reaction indicated that they'd brought a lot of dust with them, though it was only visible on their grubby hands.
"Stay away!" he said, backing away from them. "You two need to have a shower and put on clean clothes."
The boys' initial shock quickly turned into puzzlement.
"We're not all that dirty," Connor protested, showing his hands. "It's just a bit of dust. Anyway, I thought you were just allergic to cats, not dust."
"I'm allergic to the sort of dust in the attic, and, I don't want it spread around the house," Paul replied, briefly wondering if perhaps cats had been in the attic at some point in the long history of the house.
"But we can't get cleaned up yet," Mike pointed out. "We need to go back and open some suitcases. Do you have the keys?"
"I don't know anything about suitcases in the attic, but I suppose the keys may be in the box," Paul replied just before he expelled a loud sneeze. When Mike took a step toward the desk, he quickly added, "Stop!"
Both boys had expressions of frustration and thought he was making a big fuss about nothing.
"Look," Paul said, thinking quickly. "The suitcases probably just have more junk inside, but if you really can't wait to find out, why don't you take the suitcases to your bathroom and give them a good wipe down? Then you can shower, put on clean clothes, and put your dirty clothes in the washing machine. In the meantime, I'll try to find keys that might fit."
Grumbling, the boys left the room and did as he suggested. Before looking for likely keys, Paul went to his own bathroom, washed his face, and found some antihistamines.
By the time Mike and Connor were cleaned up, it was time for lunch, and they made no effort to hide their frustration when Paul decided that they should eat before opening the suitcases. Liam and Stephane, who now knew about the results of attic exploration, were also keen to discover the contents of the suitcases, and the meal was eaten more quickly than usual.
When the suitcases were brought down to the parlour so that everyone could see them being opened, Connor commented that he'd been surprised to find that the smallest one was actually the heaviest. It turned out that it was full of documents, papers, and a few photos, all of which were related to Mary, Paul's mother. The documents included her birth certificate, school reports, exam results, vaccination records, and what appeared to be a whole paper trail of her life before she left home.
Unlike the photos they'd seen before, which were mainly informal family snapshots, these were official school photos with the rest of her class or sports teams. A couple of them were large panoramic pictures of all the children and staff at her school. Packed at the very bottom of the case were some exercise books. Thus, Paul got to see his mother's handwriting for the very first time.
The other two suitcases contained a wide range of clothing, ranging from casual wear to a formal dress. They were the sort of clothes that a teenage girl might have worn in the last decade of the twentieth century. The very largest case also had three stuffed toys: a brown teddy bear, a small knitted bear, and a pink unicorn.
Paul had always assumed that his mother's belongings had been disposed of, but now he realised that at least some had been kept. He guessed that his grandparents, or at least his grandmother, had decided to store away some of the items that were possibly of the most sentimental value. Perhaps the selection of clothes had been Mary's favourites.
He wondered why the photo albums and documents that he'd seen previously had been kept separate from those in the suitcases. The only explanation that occurred to him was that the ones he'd seen earlier were those that his grandmother had wanted to look at more often. It seemed that his grandmother had never quite given up hope that her daughter would someday return.
Before the first suitcase had been opened, there was an atmosphere of anticipation and some excited chatter between the boys. However, as more and more items were revealed, everyone became quiet, and the atmosphere became one of sombre respect. Liam held on to a couple of the smaller photos and studied them intently, trying not to cry. Slowly and gently, Paul began to return the items to the suitcases.
"You're not going to put them back in the attic, are you?" Connor protested, horrified at the thought.
Alarmed and shocked, Liam looked up from the photos and gazed at Paul. The little boy's pleading expression silently supported Connor's outburst.
"I hadn't even thought about that. It just didn't feel right to have them scattered around here," Paul replied. "What would you like us to do with them? We should decide as brothers."
"I think that they should be in my room because that was Mum's room," Connor said. Looking at his little brother, he quickly added, "But Liam can look at them anytime he wants."
"I want to have the big teddy bear," Liam said.
"Okay," Connor agreed after a little hesitation, "and I'll have the little one."
"I guess that leaves the unicorn for me," Paul said with a seriousness that surprised them all.
A couple of weeks after the end of the camping trip, the foster carers and their daughter went away on vacation. On the afternoon before their departure, Paul and his brothers came to collect Mike and John, whose brother had arranged to pick him up from Paul's house after work. While he was loading Mike's bike onto the rack on the Mercedes, Paul suggested that they also take John's bike. He pointed out that John could then use it to go between his house and Will's flat, as well as for joining the others on bike rides.
That evening, when the Marshall brothers were drinking hot chocolate and watching TV in Will's flat, there was a slightly uncomfortable conversation.
"So," Will said tentatively, "is your interest in running real or just an excuse for spending more time with Mike?"
John was so embarrassed that he was tempted to ignore the question. Then he remembered that it was being asked by his big brother, the person whom he trusted most in the world. Will had accepted that his little brother was gay and had already guessed that he had a crush on Mike.
"Why do you ask?" the boy responded evasively.
"I have my reasons," Will replied cryptically with a gentle and slightly mysterious smile. "But don't worry. Whatever you answer, it will be fine with me."
"Well, to be honest, it started off as a way to try and get Mike to like me, but then I found that I really enjoy it, and it made me feel fitter. So I'd keep doing it even without Mike."
"That's good," Will replied, sounding slightly relieved.
A happy and relaxing weekend with his brother left John wishing yet again that they could live together all the time. Of course, he knew and to some extent accepted all the reasons why living at the foster home was better for him, but being with Will gave him a sense of belonging. He fantasised about a perfect world in which his brother had a big house and would be allowed to adopt him.
Authors deserve your feedback. It's the only payment they get. If you go to the top of the page you will find the author's name. Click that and you can email the author easily.* Please take a few moments, if you liked the story, to say so.
[For those who use webmail, or whose regular email client opens when they want to use webmail instead: Please right click the author's name. A menu will open in which you can copy the email address (it goes directly to your clipboard without having the courtesy of mentioning that to you) to paste into your webmail system (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc). Each browser is subtly different, each Webmail system is different, or we'd give fuller instructions here. We trust you to know how to use your own system. Note: If the email address pastes or arrives with %40 in the middle, replace that weird set of characters with an @ sign.]
* Some browsers may require a right click instead
